Chapter Eight

Bailey

T he kitchen counter was covered in snacks, booze, and makeup. I hadn't been to this house in so long, I had forgotten how much I had loved living here. It was my safe place. My parents had left it to me when I turned eighteen. I'm sure they had no idea that they wouldn't have been around to see that day.

I try not to think about the fire. I was so young, my memories of it are pretty hazy. I remember the smoke the most. The thick, gray, suffocating smoke that invaded my lungs. And then there was darkness. Endless darkness. When I finally came to, I was in Wickford Orphanage. It happened so fast, even the nuns seemed surprised to find me in one of the beds.

The police reports were jumbled and didn't make sense. Statements were redacted and signatures blurred. I vowed to move on and never look back. So when I found out that my parents had another property for me to inherit, I was over the moon. It made me feel closer to them without all the tragedy attached to it.

Maureen handed me another shot of tequila and a semi-burnt mozzarella stick. "Where do you keep disappearing to, Bales? You're here but like you're not."

I downed the shot in two seconds. "Just missing my parents. Did you talk to your dad?"

Her face fell. "Yeah… I wish I had more to tell, but he got so annoyed that I even brought it up. He said we should leave the past in the past and move on. I'm sorry, Bales."

My stomach knotted. Why wouldn't anyone in this town talk about the fire? "It's all good, Maur. Thank you for trying."

She hopped up on the counter next to me. "You know, we never talk about them anymore. We actually never talk about anything deep. I feel like you're shutting me out sometimes."

There were so many things she didn't know. Ugh. "I know. I'm sorry for that. There are just things that I haven't been able to say out loud. Like if I do, they become all too real."

Maureen smoothed her hands over her miniskirt. The dark red tips of her nails were perfectly polished. She was always so put together. A stark contrast from the hot mess that I had become lately.

"You know you can tell me anything, right? We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. Come to think of it, I don't even remember the first time we actually met. But it's been our whole lives. Nothing you say will ever make me stop being friends with you."

I squeezed her hand. I believed her but I was still so afraid. "I know. It's just harder for me. I'm the town freak, but you've always stood by me. I love you for that."

"And I always will. I love you too, Bales." She hopped down off the counter and went for the blender, pouring in a shit ton of tequila and margarita mix. "So, what are we going to do about Billy and Chad?"

I took one of the limes and began slicing it, imagining I was slicing into Billy's flesh with every swipe of the knife. "I don't know. We can't go to your dad. They'll just deny it and then it will only piss them off more. I'm going to avoid him for the rest of my life."

Maureen snorted. "Fuck that. You have every right to walk as freely as he does around this town without being harassed every ten steps. That piece of shit needs a taste of his own medicine."

I rimmed our glasses with the limes before dipping the edges into a plate of salt. "There's not much we can do. Billy's dad is head of the city council. If we start shit with him, he could make our lives miserable. Well, mine at least."

Maureen poured the margaritas into our glasses and handed me one. "He's the one who's started shit. We just need to finish it."

I chuckled as she pursed her lips. Sometimes I wished I had even half of her tenacity. She was so confident and sure of herself. "All right enough about that asshole. Let's get drunk and watch something scary."

We clanked glasses and each took a big gulp, nearly choking after the first sip. Maureen coughed. "Fuck, I think I went overboard with the tequila."

I laughed. "You think?" My eyes were watering from the sting of it.

After watching two horror movies and downing the entire bottle of tequila, Maureen and I slumped on opposite sides of the couch, our feet tangled together.

Whether it was newfound bravery, liquid courage, or just a deep ache to be able to talk to my best friend about my love life… I finally cracked .

I sat up a little, my head buzzing. I blinked a few times to make sure Maureen didn't actually have two heads. "Okay," I sighed.

Maureen groaned as she pulled a fuzzy blanket over our legs. " Okay what? My head is fucking spinning by the way."

I laughed but my palms were sweaty. My stomach knotted. "I never told you the whole story about what happened that night we broke into Wickford Mansion."

She shot straight up. "I knew it! Ow." She gripped the back of the couch. "Fuck, I really hope I don't throw up. Okay, tell me more."

This was going to be hard, but I have to do it. "Something pushed me into that door, Maur. At first, I thought you were playing a prank on me. But I looked out the window and saw you outside, three floors down. There was no one there. But I felt the force of hands pushing me forward."

Her eyes widened. "Seriously? What the fuck? What was it?"

My head was just as scrambled as hers. "I don't know. Well, I mean I kind of figured it out later. But now I'm second-guessing myself. Anyway, it freaked me out. I felt strange after. My entire body broke out in chills."

She shifted forward even more. "That's why you didn't want to come to the party."

I nodded. "I felt like something was… watching me. I just wanted to go home, take a shower, and go to bed. I thought that I could shake that feeling if I just got away from it. So that's what I did. Except the superstitions were true. Something was watching me… and it followed me home."

Maureen gasped. "Oh my god, Bales! What happened? Were you hurt?"

I sat up and pulled the blanket to my chest. I looked around the room, remembering Poe, Grim, and Saint's introduction into my life. "No. They didn't hurt me."

"They? Holy fuck, Bailey. Please tell me what happened."

I shook my head. "I don't want you to think I'm crazy. "

She scooted toward me and gathered my hands in hers. "Bitch, I'm your ride or die. I'll never doubt you or think you're crazy. Please, you can trust me."

I inhaled a sharp breath. "Okay, here goes. When I was pushed into that door at Wickford Mansion, I unleashed three spirits. They followed me home, dragged me out of bed, and said they wouldn't leave unless I gave them what they wanted."

Maureen's eyes widened again. She swallowed hard. "What did they want, Bailey?"

The fact that she hadn't even blinked at the fact that I said ghosts and not actual living boys, gave me the courage to continue. "Me. They wanted to do things to me. With me. I was terrified at first. But that was my own shame trying to talk me out of it… I wanted them too. And so I said yes."

"We're going to need more tequila for this." Maureen leaped off the couch and ran to the kitchen.

She was right. My admission basically shocked us both sober. "Bring the chips too," I called after her.

Within two minutes, Maureen was back with everything and nestled back under the blanket across from me. "Okay, spill the tea. I want every detail."

I laughed as I took a pull of tequila straight from the bottle. "It was crazy. They awakened parts of me that I didn't even know were there. Like all my darkest and dirtiest fantasies."

"Did they take turns? Was there group sex? Please, your horny friend who hasn't gotten laid in over six months needs to know these things."

Maureen hung off my every word as I described all the ways that Poe, Grim, and Saint defiled me. The leash, the spanking, the way Poe ate a peach out of my pussy. I told her everything. Even about the curse.

"And by the end of the night, Maur, I knew I wanted to keep them forever. So I called my lawyer and had her make arrangements for me to buy Wickford Mansion. Because of them. That's why I don't leave that often. I've been terrified that you'll think I've lost my mind. That's why I haven't invited you over."

Maureen stared at me dumbfounded for a few minutes. A second longer and I would start to think my fears were coming true. But she finally released a deep breath and smiled. "Bailey, you naughty little vixen. I fucking knew you had it in you. I'm so jealous right now, I can't stand it. Happy for you, but fuck do I need to find my own haunted house filled with ghosts who want to worship my body."

I laughed out loud. A deep genuine laugh that I hadn't released in a long time. "I'm so relieved you know. I hated keeping this from you."

Maureen nodded. "Thank you for telling me. I get why you were scared. It's a lot. But I hope this just proves to you that I'm truly your best friend. No matter what. So… you've been living with them for almost a year now. Everything still kinky and nasty over there?"

I snorted. "If you're asking if the honeymoon is over, it's not. But there are some other issues going on. That's why I called you last minute for a girls' night. I needed to get some space from that house."

Maureen took another sip of tequila, clearing her throat as she swallowed it down. "What kinds of issues? What do ghosts fight about?"

I bit my lip, unsure on how to say another strange thing out loud. It made it all too real. "We aren't the only ones in the house. There's another spirit. I felt something the moment the renovations were finished. The guys thought I was just adjusting to living with them. But I could feel a different energy. This morning, I woke up to another ghost in my bed. Raine Wickford."

Maureen gasped again. "Another one? Fuck. It's like you've hit the hot ghost lottery. He was hot too, right? "

My stomach knotted. There were so many things I was afraid of. But maybe if I did say them out loud, the fear and anxiety would go away. "Yes," I breathed. "Raine Wickford is fucking hot. But I feel wrong thinking that. I'm with Poe, Grim, and Saint."

Maureen whimpered as she fanned herself. "I don't know, Bales. They are already sharing you with each other. What's one more? If that's what you want, of course."

Butterflies swam in my stomach at the thought. "Yeah but I don't know if they want that. Besides, Raine is unhinged. The look in his eyes was… feral. He's been taunting me for almost a year in the shadows. Making me think I was going crazy. What if he's an evil spirit that wants to hurt me?"

Maureen raked her hands through her curls, twisting them around her finger as she contemplated my predicament. " Or , what if he wants in on this relationship you've got going on? He hasn't hurt you so far. Maybe he's just been watching and waiting for the right moment."

I sighed. "Poe knew he was there the whole time and didn't tell the rest of us. So there's that too. That house is full of secrets and shadows and creepy corners. I worry that we're all keeping things from each other now. And I hate it."

"Sounds like you need to sit down with all of them and hash it out. You need to talk to Raine too. Find out what his intentions are. You've sacrificed a lot to be with them, they really haven't. So maybe it's time they do."

I already felt a hundred times better talking to her about this. I was internally kicking myself for not trusting her with this in the first place. I shot across the couch and threw my arms around her. "Thank you for believing me."

She hugged me back. "Always."

I tucked myself under the blanket next to her and rested my head on her shoulder. "Ugh, I can already feel the hangover coming for me. "

She giggled. "Yup. But nothing that bacon and eggs can't cure in the morning."

As I tried to drift off to sleep, I wondered what my guys were up to tonight. Were they missing me as much as I missed them? Were Grim and Saint still pissed at me for letting Raine touch me? Was Poe okay? Were they fighting? My brain raced with these thoughts until I thought I might explode.

"Go to sleep, Bales. Everything is going to be okay," Maureen whispered.